site.btaSofia Mayor Fandakova Says Socialist Party Criticisms of City Debt Are Pre-election Speculation

Sofia Mayor Fandakova Says Socialist Party
Criticisms of City Debt Are
Pre-election Speculation


Sofia, September 11 (BTA) - The criticisms of the Bulgarian
Socialist Party (BSP) concerning the debt of Sofia City Hall are
a pre-election speculation, Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova told
journalists Thursday, adding that she did not want to enter
into such an argument.

The BSP expressed doubts about the calculations in Sofia's Debt
Management Strategy for 2014 - 2018, which the municipal
councilors adopted at its session on the same day. The left
group in Sofia Municipal Council does not want new obligations
for the city because they say the mayor of the capital after
2015 will have to pay the debts of the incumbent. According to
the BSP, the policy in 2009 was more conservative than the one
now and the only way to increase revenues is to raise the taxes
and fees for Sofianites.

Fandakova rejected these statements and quoted part of the
Revenue Agency report on a probe in Sofia Municipality which
says that the debt servicing scheme does not generate a risk for
the financial condition of the municipality. International
credit rating agencies and the Revenue Agency say Sofia has a
conservative balanced debt policy, the Mayor noted, adding that
Sofia draws credits only for investment projects and that from
authoritative European institutions.

Deputy Sofia Mayor responsible for finances, Doncho Barbalov,
explained that Sofia City Hall's debt at end-December last year
was 486 million leva. This includes the loans absorbed until
now, as well as the loan from the Japan Bank for International
Cooperation./SN/BR/